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Annett Gröschner and Katy Derbyshire

London, 10 December 2015

Annett Groeschner, who studied German language and literature, is a Berliner by choice - and as a writer in various genres, is one of the most important literary voices not only in Berlin, but of Berlin and its social and cultural history. She has edited letters, diaries and radio features, has curated exhibitions and written essays and travel reports, all contributing to archiving a multiplicity of stories and authentic voices that, together, make up something like the identity of the city of Berlin. As a creative writer, Gröschner has built on the authentic material she gathered, and produced fiction (short stories, poems, and two wonderful, rich and nuanced novels) which is devoted to keeping the cultural memory of the city alive and which encapsulates the feel and the materiality of everyday life in Berlin. Her work has won many prizes including the Anna Seghers Scholarship, awarded by the Berlin Academy of Arts,and the state of Brandenburg’s Erwin Strittmatter Prize. Recent works include: Walpurgistag (novel, 2011), Mit der Linie 4 um die Welt (a collection of reports of travels on local transport around the world, 2012), Heimatkunde Berlin (2010), Anonyme Mitte (2009), Parzelle Paradies. Berliner Geschichten (2008).

After studying German at Birmingham University, Katy Derbyshire continued her education at the University of London, where she attained a Diploma in Translation in 2001. In 1996 she moved to Berlin where, among other occupations, she taught English to children. Since 2002 she has worked as a freelance translator of German into English and, in 2008, founded a blog called love german books. Her translations include: The King of China (Tilmann Ramstedt's Der Kaiser von China) (2013), Inke Parei's Was Dunkelheit war (What Darkness Was, 2013) and Die Schattenboxerin (The Shadowboxing Girl, 2011).